Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Like Tuesdays child the Hucklebones girl is full of grace. She explores the world around her with curiosity and wonder as she takes in the sights and sounds of summer. Spring / Summer 2013 takes inspiration from the elegant beauty found in nature. The soft warm breeze on a sun drenched day, the lightness of a dandelion-seed being carried high, the ruffle of a feather or turn of a pinwheel.

The seasonal print evokes this mood depicting the sweep of starlings as they dance through the evening sky. Gusts of petals waltz across silken dresses and pop coloured blossoms are thrown merrily into the dance. 'On a Summer Breeze' celebrates that wonderful lightness that not only lifts the mood but puts a spring in our step as the season moves into summer.

Tuesday, 26 February 2013

Perhaps it's the time of year, maybe because I've been asked for ideas for Mothers day gifts as well as looking for something for my own but lately I've been pouring over recipe books, looking for that ever trusted collection of recipes to add to my kitchen reportoire and I have to share my 2 favourite books I'm adding to my already bursting shelves as well as my favourite kitchen pieces I just have to add to my wish list this mothers day.

The first isThe Little Paris Kitchenby Rachel Khoo(pictured above). Likened to Amelie by Elizabeth Day of wrote in the Observer last summer ' an idealised version of what we imagine an English girl living in Paris might be like. Think of a cross between Amélie and an excitable Lizzy Bennet.' I've had my eye on this book for a little while now and having fallen in love with her style, I'm excited about trying her recipes. Check out her beautiful website and blog here or some clips via youtube of Rachel's tv series with the BBC:

The second isLunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard. A New York Times best-seller is promising to be a good read. 'I slept with my French husband halfway through our first date' - the first line to this book which is part memoir, part recipe book and very much a love story it's a tale of falling in love, with someone, with food and of course Paris.

Though not the most amazing cook, I do aspire to be (better at least), and I do throw myself into it with a passion and one thing life has taught me is you don't have to be a great chef to bring out the best in a dish, its about an appreciation of food, its fresh unprocessed flavours, food that the whole family can enjoy. Its the passion for cooking and quite often the passion comes from those things around me, the things that inspire me, the things that make cooking fun, a new recipe to try, colours, that big platter just begging to be piled high with deliciousness that makes me wanna grab my measuring ducks and spice tin, besides isn't it a whole lot easier to put your heart into something if it has a little and oh so colourful soul.

Monday, 25 February 2013

There's a recipe I hunger for on chilly afternoons, though I seldom have all the ingredients when my stomach growls for it it's one that makes me happy to wait until a fresh croissant has turned a little stale. Doesn't sound like the best start to a recipe does it. But trust me, or rather trust Nigella Lawson, this is a simple dish everyone will love. Snapping a picture on my phone before it was all guzzled was the hardest part!

I blame the weather and mammalian instinct for my craving, with the sun shining and a chill still in the air we've been making the most of the light in the day, wrapping up warm and enjoying what feels like Springs rehearsal. But nothing beats coming home to make something delicious and comforting and this is what, for me, is the perfect comfort, warming food; caramel croissant pudding. Sophia and Oona love making it too, or rather the science of it, so I'm not singled out in the kitchen and it's slowly becoming a wintry walk tradition..... and just as we're beginning to thaw out from the day. *ping* it's ready. nom. nom.

Ingredients:

4 stale croissants (original recipe states 2 but I've always used 4!)

100g caster sugar

2 x 15 ml tbs water

125ml double cream

125ml full fat milk

2 egg, beaten

*recipe also suggests adding 30ml of bourbon but we skip that bit.

Method:

Tear the croissants up into pieces... not too flakey and put in a gratin / tatin dish. We use a shallow 30cm casserole dish.

Put the sugar and water in saucepan and watch it dissolve as you swill and swirl it around. Little scientists can learn all about how a liquid can dissolve a solidhere andhere

Put the saucepan on the hob over a medium heat and let it bubble away, don't be tempted to stir it, let it turn a deep amber as it caramelizes (about 3-5 minutes).

Turn the heat down and pour in the cream. It will splutter and that's fine. Whisk, whisk away adding the milk. Little pieces of toffee may form but don't panic these will all go if you keep whisking over a gentle heat.

Take the pan off the heat and still whisking add the beaten eggs. This is your caramel sauce.

Pour over the waiting croissants and let them soak it all up for 10 minutes before putting in the oven - now's the time to heat it ready at 180 oC / gas 4 - for 20 minutes.

serves 4 people.... if 2 of them are small!

nom.nom.

I hope it's a recipe they'll remember and keep as a tradition with their own families one day.

Friday, 22 February 2013

I spend a lot of time in my kitchen; morning, noon and night and all the snack-grabbing, at-the-table-doing-homework and catching-up-with-friends-over-a-cuppa times in between. When I think of my kitchen its full of colour, full of flavour, full of inspiration to cook big beautiful stupendously scrumptious dishes. Its about fun, the noise of banter with friends and family whilst whipping up platters of that oh so splendid homemade food. I think colour. I think large plates passed around a noisy table of chatter with friends. I see cups filled with daisies the children freshly picked from a morning in the park placed next to mismatched napkins that sit together at the table unique and treasured as each of its guests.

Practical no longer equates dull. We try to echo this with a collection in the boutique where the kitchen isn't just a place to cook but a place to get a kick out of cooking. The kitchen is the heart of the home and we want to hear it beating, we want it to feel alive! Give me colourful jugs with utensils spilling out, bright melamine mixing bowls, storage jars, a rainbow of cups and cutlery, baskets full of colourful flavours, and spice boxes to take my taste buds on a journey far far away.

Take 1 large dose of practical, add a bag of great design followed by a large cup of versatility then stir in masses of style. It's delicious!

A kitchen for entertaining as much as for rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in. Because that's our style!

Thursday, 21 February 2013

Inspired by the ocean, its deep colours, lapping waves under blue skies, lace like sea foam that tickles the toes, star fish and coral, and afternoon strolls with ice cream on the beach the SS13 ilovegorgeous collection has arrived in all its sumptuous glory. A collection for the trendsetters, the party girls and wellie wearers, the free at heart and the adventurers and oh how I wish it would fit me!

Monday, 11 February 2013

Valentines Day and Mothers day is soon upon us and both days are days we show our love and appreciation. We want to make sure we give the people we love something that will last and something they can keep as reminder of our love. I love the idea of giving people seeds or bulbs as a gift, something that can grow bigger each day. So we've set about making fabric covered flower pots. As you can see they're still wet but once they're dry we'll get planting.

I'm going to make pretty envelopes with seeds inside with the words 'love grows bigger every day' written upon them to give to the girls on valentines morning. They'll have fun planting the seeds and taking care of them as they watch them grow and blossom into beautiful flowers.

They're so easy and so fun to make and with little materials you can turn a boring plastic pot into a beautiful planter or storage pot.

I'm planning on making a small stack of pots for my mama too for Mothers Day with her favourite flowers panted in each one. I'd like to have a row of them upon my desk for keeping my pens and pencils in too! So I'll be sure the girls show their daddy how to make them.

Here's what you'll need:

flower pots - we used standard plastic ones

PVA glue

bowl

water

fabric

Here's how:

Cut strips of fabric,

mix PVA glue with water in a 50/50 ratio

glue your strips of fabric onto the pot as neatly or as randomly as you like, smoothing out each piece as you go to avoid creases.

Even though I took a more mathematical approach to mine; measuring the top of the flower pot dividing that number between the number of fabric strips to get the width of each fabric and then the same for tapering the fabric at the bottom I think Oona's looks so much better for having just gone with the flow of it.

If you'd like to have your pots kept outside you will have to varnish them to make them waterproof and to seal the fabric from the elements.

Happy Making

If you're looking for more craft ideas for a token of love why not try these here

Monday, 4 February 2013

The cold weather and dark colours of winter have me hankering for some brighter sights. Not playing outside very much but rather opting to stay in the cosy warmth of home, we've been playing pirates with tables turned upside down for ships, cushions on the floor making stepping stones over the crocodile swamp and toilet roll telescopes as we look out to sea for islands that might hold handsome treasure.
We discovered the African Savannah as we sailed across the Sitting-Room Ocean and at night we gaze up at the planets in the sky. We even saw a group of circus animals rehearsing for their performance!
Your travels and adventures can take you to wherever you want to go all you have to is imagine it.

Here's what you'll need:

Toilet roll/ kitchen roll cardboard tubes

Paper

Small pictures you can draw, cut from magazines, printed from images found or perhaps printed holiday photos

Scissors

Sticky tape

Glue stick

Here's how:

Take a toilet roll tube and open it up by cutting along the length.

Then, cut it into strips about an inch wide.

Taking a piece of sticky tape and recreate a circle with the strip by using the sticky tape to bridge a gap of about an inch, widening the circle which you will use to create a cap for the telescope.

Cut out a circle of paper about 2cm larger than the diameter of the cardboard tube and draw your chosen image.

Now, stick the circle over the end of your 'cap' securing it with sticky tape the entire circumference of the card. Decorate however you wish.

You can make as many different caps as you like using different images or perhaps even just different weather.